Chiapas highlands

The Chiapas Highlands or the Central Highlands of Chiapas (Spanish: Los Altos), is a geographic, sociocultural, historic, and administrative region located in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico.

The Central Highlands are located in the northern region of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountain range.

The Chiapaneca regional government recognizes the highlands as a socioeconomic region called “altos Tsotsil-Tsetsal” that is formed by 17 municipalities:

Culturally, the region is subdivided in Tsotsil and Tsetsal. Spanish is the main language spoken in San Cristobal, however in all of the rural municipalities the main language spoken is either Tsotsil or Tsetsal. In fact, Tsotsil is the lingua franca in the region and is spoken amongst many indigenous of other denominations and some Latinos.

The Chiapanecan Central Highlands constitute a portion of the Central American Highlands, that run from the Tehuantepec Isthmus in Mexico to the lowlands of Nicaragua. The Chiapas Highlands comprise a limestone mass with extrusive volcanic rocks at the highest peaks, extending for over 11 000 km2, ca. 160 km along a northwest–southeast axis, and ca. 70 km at its widest.

The height of the relief varies from 300 meters to 2,898 m above the sea level (CEIEG, 2013) with a land area of 3,711.90 km2.

The higher elevations are covered by extensive pine forests, while oak and liquidambar stands are found at lower elevations (

The season comprise a hot dry season (March through May) and a rainy Summer (May through September). The Winter (October through February) has alternating dry and damp spells.

The seasonal pattern of rain is ideal for the cultivation of maize and beans which are the staple food for most local indigenous people. However, at high elevations in Tierra Fria production only reaches subsistence levels. On the flanks of the highlands between an altitude of 4,000 and 5,500 ft coffee can be produced. Coffee constitutes a major crop and unlike beans and maize it is sold for cash ( Other cash crops are also produced within the region such as cabbage in Chamula or Mandarins in Tenejapa, but their importance is null compared with coffee Cattle and sheep are other commercial enterprises.

Producers (usually indigenous) also face hardships when trying to commercialize their produce, as described by Brown it is a usual practice for intermediaries also known as coyotes (usually ladinos) to charge producers a high fee to transport their harvest from their community to the cabezera municipal (head of county) or San Cristobal to be sold. In that same way, products sold directly in the communities tend to be more expensive than when sold in San Cristobal. As a result, some indigenous coffee producing communities have self organize in to coffee cooperatives offering an alternative to independent indigenous producers to commercialize their product.

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